Colorful Closets

Colorful Closets

Lindsey Wind and Keely Brown Started A Thread of Change for Children in Need in Amarillo and Canyon!

Lindsey Wing and Keely Brown were both raised in Amarillo and went to Tascosa High School together. As their children grew older they were brainstorming on things they were passionate about and how they could help our community. They saw a need to provide clothing for area children and began asking their friends and family to clean out their closets. From there, Colorful Closets, their non-profit organization that provides clothing and mini wardrobes for area children in need was born. Colorful Closets seeks to collect, organize and distribute tenderly used and new clothing for children and adolescents throughout the Amarillo and Canyon areas. They seek to fill this need for those in our area while also ministering to them with the hope of spreading the love of Christ.

Keely hosted a “Moms In Prayer” event in her home, to help spread awareness of the needs within our own schools. Tracey Morman, the Counseling Director for AISD, was the guest speaker that evening and shared with the group poverty statistics within Amarillo ISD. Tracey heard what Lindsey and Keely had been working on and asked them to come and speak to her counselors before school started in 2016. From there counselors at AISD will find a need in terms of clothing for their students and put in an “order” with Colorful Closets. When one child in need is found, they are able to take care of their siblings also. Sadly, 67% of our Amarillo public schools are in poverty. They went from 6-8 orders a week last year to 8-12 per day this year. So as you can imagine, they serve as many as they can, as quick as possible! In addition to providing clothing needs for AISD, they recently added services for CISD and they also provide emergency clothing for Opportunity School, The Bridge, Sunshine Cottage, CASA and CPS.

The two ladies started out in September of 2016 in Keely’s husband’s warehouse for his business, Diversified Waste. They had an office space and a trailer to stack their bins. As they began to grow larger and larger, they came in contact with Eveline Rivers, who offered them a space in her warehouse. By January of 2017, they moved into their new space at Eveline Rivers warehouse at 314 S. Jefferson. Now they have the space they need to hang all of their donations by gender, color and size. The day we went to visit with them, they were proudly showing off a new shelving system the Amarillo area Eagle Scouts had generously built for them.

Colorful Closets accepts donations for men, women and children’s clothing (age appropriate, clothing infants up through 12th grade) in excellent used condition. Keely explains, “We are very picky when sorting through our clothing donations. We only keep clothing good enough to clothe our own children. If our kids would not wear it, other children wouldn’t either. Dignity is the goal.” Lindsey and Keely enjoy styling each wardrobe. The ladies like to group the clothes and put little outfits together for the children. Monetary donations also help them provide on demand extras such as specific sizes they may not have at the moment, brand new undergarments, proper storage containers, toiletries, laundry services, hangers…these are just a few expenses that come up on a regular basis.

Colorful Closets takes a break for December and January. They are an “every day needs” organization so they step aside and let Eveline Rivers do what they do best with their Christmas Project. Lindsey and Keely will be spending time with their families for December and rebuilding, cleaning up and getting organized for 2018. They will still take donations at any of their drop off locations and will be gearing up with new projects and promotions starting in February!

Lindsey Wing “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain in what we cannot see.” Hebrews 11:1. I wish for the closet to be a light for those in need, a welcomed joy in someone’s day, a burden lifted off their shoulders and a sweet relief to someone trying so hard to make ends meet.

God has truly shown his glory in the workings of the closet! I am beyond blessed to be a witness to His doings! I can’t help but want to pass it along to others. Keely and I are only a piece of His puzzle. And all of you are helping put this puzzle together to Glorify Him!

Keely Brown I have found that through personal trials in my life, it has proven better for me when done with a measure of humor, but most importantly, having JESUS and a support system to hold me up when times get tough.

My passion and desire is to help others feel supported, valued and special. When I see a child in need, it is hard for me to turn a blind eye. There have been people along the way, who have made a huge impact in my life, my marriage and my children’s lives during hard times, and I am forever grateful! Now, I want to give back.

“I wanted to thank Colorful Closets for the clothes you brought out last week. We gave them to a 5th grade student on Friday afternoon. On Monday I saw that child in her new clothes. She had a presence I had not previously seen. Typically she looks down and has little eye contact. On this day, her head was held high, her walk straight and she smiled and spoke to me when we passed. I could tell she felt great in her new clothes! Thank you for going out of your way to match styles and ages. Your work has more impact than you will ever know.”

— Terri Huseman, Principal, Will Rogers Elementary

Drop Off Locations

Please note, all donations need to be in bags and labeled for "Colorful Closets"